Mobile (art)
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A mobile [ ˈmo: bilə ] is a freely hanging, balanced, light structure that is moved by even a weak draft. The term comes from French ( adjective : mobile “movable, adjustable, rotatable, loose, fig. Lively”, noun : mobile “mobile body, fig. Motive, occasion, motivation, drive”). The name was coined in 1931 by Marcel Duchamp for the early works of Alexander Calder . Duchamp had used the term “mobile” for his first ready-made , the bicycle wheel , as early as 1913 and has since then experimented with movement in his complex work. Thus mobiles are counted as kinetic art .
The mobile as an art form was perfected by Alexander Calder. Here are three quotes from him:
“ A mobile is an abstract sculpture made mainly of metal plates, steel tubing, wire and wood. All or some of its components are set in motion by electric motors, wind, water or by hand. "
“ Why not plastic forms in motion? Not simply translated or rotating movement, but various movements of different types, speeds and ranges combined with one another, result in a whole. Just as you can compose colors or shapes, you can also compose movements. "
“ If everything works out, a mobile is a piece of poetry that dances and surprises with the joy of life. "
Quoted from
- Jacob Baal-Teshuva: Alexander Calder 1898–1976 . Verlag Taschen, ISBN 3-8228-7915-0
to form
Alexander Calder created mobiles with three different construction types:
- Mobiles with stand
- wall-mounted mobiles
- Free-floating mobiles hanging from the ceiling (still the most popular form today).
There are small, playful mobiles, the sizes of which vary from a few centimeters to a meter, and large outdoor mobiles with spans of up to 20 m. Inspired by Piet Mondrian , Joan Miró and Fernand Léger , Calder preferred the basic colors blue , red , yellow and the achromatic colors black and white .
The artist Jörg-Tilmann Hinz makes large mobiles out of steel, the parts of which are not hung on one another, but are firmly connected to one another with the help of bearings .
